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Dhammacakkappavattana Sutra: "The Discourse on the Setting in Motion of the Wheel (or Vision) of the Basic Pattern: The Four True Realities of the Spiritually Ennobled Ones"
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| Mara: Don't bother teaching. They'll never understand. |
Thus have I heard. At one time the Blessed One was dwelling at
Bārāṇasī in the Deer Park at Isipatana. There he addressed the group of five ascetics: "Ascetics, these two extremes should not be followed by one who has gone forth (from the home-life into the left-home life).
"What two? They are the pursuit of sensual happiness in sense pleasures, which is low, vulgar, the way of ordinary folk, ignoble, not connected to the goal [of enlightenment and complete liberation, bodhi and nirvana] or the pursuit of self-mortification, which is painful, ignoble, [the way of many struggling ascetics,] not connected to the goal.
"Ascetics, without veering toward either of these two extremes, the Awakened One has awakened to the Middle Way, which gives rise to vision, gives rise to knowledge, leads to peace, to higher-knowledge, to complete awakening, to nirvana.
"And what, ascetics, is that Middle Way awakened to by the Awakened One which gives rise to vision, gives rise to knowledge, leads to peace, to higher-knowledge, to complete awakening, to nirvana?
"It is this Noble Eight-Factored Path, that is:
- right view
- right intention
- right speech
- right action
- right livelihood
- right effort
- right mindfulness
- right mental unification.
"...Ascetics, this for
noble ones (spiritually enlightened/ennobled ones) is the reality of
what pain (dukkha) is:
- Birth is painful,
- aging is painful,
- illness is painful,
- death is painful;
- sorrow,
- lamentation,
- physical pain,
- unhappiness and distress are painful;
- union with the disliked is painful;
- separation from the liked is painful;
- not getting what one wants is painful;
- in brief, the Five Bundles of Grasping-Fuel are painful.
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What rises is of a nature to fall away.
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"Ascetics, this for noble ones is the reality of the
origin-of-pain. It is
craving (thirst,
tanha) that leads to renewed becoming (incessant rebirth), accompanied by delight and clinging that seeks more delight now here now there, namely:
- craving for sense-pleasures
- craving for rebirth
- craving for annihilation (of what is disliked).
"Ascetics, this for noble ones is the reality of the end-of-pain. It is the remainderless fading away and cessation of craving [as brought about by liberating-insight], letting go, and relinquishing it, freedom from it, non-reliance on it.
"Ascetics, this for noble ones is the reality of the way leading to the complete cessation of pain. It is the Noble Eight-Factored Path, which is, right view...and right mental unification.
"'This for noble ones is the reality of pain' -- ascetics, with regard to things never heard before, there arose in me vision, knowledge, wisdom, higher-knowledge, and light.
"'This for noble ones is the reality of pain, this is to be fully understood' -- ascetics, with regard to things never heard before, there arose in me vision, knowledge, wisdom, higher-knowledge, and light.
"'This for noble ones is the reality of pain, this has been fully understood' -- ascetics, with regard to things never heard before, there arose in me vision, knowledge, wisdom, higher-knowledge, and light.
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| The oldest artifacts representing the Buddha in human form are from his native Afghanistan. |
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| I get it! He didn't claim to be awake till he was sure. |
"[Likewise,] ascetics, with regard to things never heard before, there arose in me vision, knowledge, wisdom, higher-knowledge, and light with regard to:
"'This for noble ones is the reality of the origin-of-pain, this is to be abandoned.' 'This for noble ones is the reality of the origin-of-pain -- this has been abandoned.'
"[Likewise,] ascetics, with regard to things never heard before, there arose in me vision, knowledge, wisdom, higher-knowledge, and light with regard to:
"'This for noble ones is the reality of the ceasing-of-pain,' this is to be personally experienced.' 'This for noble ones is the reality of the ceasing-of-pain -- this has been personally experienced.'
"[Likewise,] ascetics, with regard to things never heard before, there arose in me vision, knowledge, wisdom, higher-knowledge, and light, with regard to:
"'This for noble ones is the reality that is the way leading to the cessation of pain,' this is to be developed. 'This for noble ones is the reality that is the way leading to the cessation of pain,' this has been developed.
"Ascetics, as long as my knowledge and vision of these four realities for noble ones, as they truly are in their three phases [each] with 12 modes [altogether], was not thoroughly purified in this way, then for so long -- in this world with its
devas, māras, and
brahmās, in this generation with its
wandering ascetics (renunciants) and Brahmins (temple priests), its
devas and humans -- I did not claim to be fully awakened to the unsurpassed perfect awakening.
"But when, ascetics, my knowledge and vision of these four realities for noble ones, as they truly are in their three phases and 12 modes was thoroughly purified in this way, then -- in this world with its devas, māras, and brahmās, in this generation with its wandering ascetics and Brahmins, its devas and humans -- I did claim to be fully awakened to the unsurpassed perfect awakening.
"Indeed, knowledge and vision arose in me: 'Unshakeable is the liberation of my mind/heart; this is my last rebirth: now there is no more renewed becoming (continued rebirth).'"
Reaction
This is what the Blessed One said and, elated, the group of five ascetics delighted in the Blessed One's words. And while this explanation was being spoken, there arose in
Venerable Koṇḍañña the dust-free, stainless vision of the basic pattern: "Whatever is originated, all of that comes [by its intrinsic nature] to cessation."
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| Let the other devas know that finally a fully-enlightened teacher has awakened on earth! |
And when the Wheel [of Vision] of the basic pattern [of things] had been set in motion by the Blessed One, the earth-dwelling
devas raised a cry:
"At Bārāṇasī, in the Deer Park at Isipatana, the unsurpassed Wheel [of Vision] of the Basic Pattern [of things] has been set in motion by the Blessed One, which cannot be stopped by any renunciant or Brahmin or māra or brahmā or by anyone in the world!"
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| The devas cried out. And a great arose. |
Having heard the cry of the earth-dwelling
devas, the
devas of the
Realm of the Four Great Kings raised the same cry. Having heard it, the Thirty-Three
devas took it up, then the Yāma
devas, then the Contented
devas, then the
devas Who Delight in Creating, then the
devas with Mastery over the Creations of Others, and then the
devas of the
brahmā group.
Thus at that second, at that moment, at that instant the cry spread as far as the brahmā world, and this ten-thousandfold world-system shook, quaked, and trembled, and an immeasurably glorious radiance appeared in the world, surpassing the shining majesty of the devas.
Then the Blessed One voiced this inspired utterance: "Indeed, the honorable Koṇḍañña has understood! Indeed, the honorable Koṇḍañña has understood! In this way, Venerable Koṇḍañña acquired the name
Koṇḍañña [the first disciple to become
enlightened], which means "Who Understood."
